<p><em>blushes</em> I don't know if that was intended to be sarcastic or not.</p>
<p>I will say this... for better or for worse, I took tremendous pride in my UChicago application and I did not need to hear what other people said about it. I knew that I had a good essay, an essay that was me through and through, and an application that more or less explained the person I am, the student I am, and why I belonged at a school like Chicago. I was so confident that my application showed me and my personality that if Chicago didn't accept me, it could only be because they knew I wouldn't be happy there.</p>
<p>No, no, I'm not being sarcastic! I'm guessing that the danger of running your essay by your GC was ending up with something a little too vanilla. You sidestepped that rather neatly and with a minimum of fuss.</p>
<p>unalove-- I also thank you for your tree-trunk-protection of your writing. You gave a heartfelt example of what my "stiff-arm" comment was trying to express.
My s also was required, in English class, to turn in a college essay----but he wasn't as clever as you and he did share the real draft. Well, he came home steaming, even tho he loved the teacher, because the suggestions simplified and sanitized everything and left nothing for the reader to feel or think about. I didn't get to read the essay 'till after he submitted it--- it was very short but of was a clear drop of who my son is. So he too knew that when he was accepted, they knew who the were admitting.</p>